Tesseract
by star bunny
Summary: Somehow Usagi has gotten herself stuck in a strange timeline. The senshi embark on a quest to find their princess.
1. Prologue

Hi, minna. Umm... this is very different from my other fics. The prologue itself is full of   
very important information that I hope you all understand. ^_^; This is going to be a   
LONG fic, but I'm really excited about it. I got the idea for this plot one night before I fell   
asleep (those are the best ideas!), but the real credit for the title as well as the fic go to   
Madeline L'engle and her magnificent book, "A Wrinkle in Time".  
  
The characters themselves belong to Naoko and Co. I'm just borrowing them. Please   
don't sue!  
  
This fic is set during the first season... or something like that. Hopefully that will all   
become clearer to you as you read. Please enjoy! ^_^  
  
Tesseract  
By: Star Bunny (bunny28@hehe.com)  
Rated: PG  
  
~~~  
Prologue  
~~~  
  
"Mercury, are you sure this is the only way?"  
  
Sailor Mercury rechecked the data on her supercomputer before answering Venus.  
  
"Without the silver crystal, this is the only way to amass enough energy to make it work."  
  
"It really doesn't sound safe," Venus replied, worrying her lower lip as she thought. "I   
would ask you to explain it again, but I don't think we would understand you."  
  
"Yes, please try to explain it again," Jupiter nodded.   
  
"There's no way I'm risking my life if I don't understand what I'm doing."  
  
"Hmm..." Mercury's blue eyes narrowed as she racked her brain for the appropriate   
layman's terms. "I suppose it wouldn't help if I told you that we were attempting to   
complete a temporal time shift between dimensions by moving through the third   
dimension of time?"  
  
At their blank stares she sighed. "Thought not... the term `tesseract' wouldn't mean   
anything to you, would it?" All she received was two shrugs and a sweat drop.  
  
"My gosh, people! Don't you ever read American literature?"  
  
"Ami-chan," Mars sighed, "We're Japanese. We can't understand   
  
English."  
  
"Wait a minute," Venus started. "That sounds familiar. I think I read that in England.   
What that the book about Mrs. Whatsit?"  
  
Mercury sent up a grateful prayer that she was finally getting somewhere. "That's right.   
`A Wrinkle in Time' by Madeline L'Engle. What we are about to do is not unlike the   
tesseract, or `wrinkle in time' that she describes in her book. The technical definition of   
a tesseract is a fourth dimensional cube. Although, to be precise, the word cube is an   
inaccurate description of what actually occurs..." At the senshi's blank stares she   
hurriedly pressed forward.   
  
"In any event, the tesseract in the book is not unlike folding space together in order to   
obtain instantaneous travel, hence the title `a wrinkle in time'. Understand?"  
  
"Mercury, I know what you're talking about, and you're still confusing me!"  
  
"Then why don't *you* explain it, Venus?" Mercury replied, not a little bit miffed.  
  
"Ok... let's see if I remember this." She then proceeded to take hold of her (very short)   
skirt and face the others. "If I were an ant and   
  
I were trying to go from one end of my skirt to the other, it would take a long time, right?   
Wouldn't it just be easier to fold my skirt so that the two points were touching and the ant   
could walk right across? That's a tesseract, right Ami?"  
  
"You could put it that way," she sighed. "So what we're doing is just a bit more complex.   
Instead of folding space, we're folding the third dimension of time. Let's see if I can   
draw this."  
  
She pulled out a wrinkled sheet of paper and began to write:  
  
1.  
/______  
\. . . . . . .  
2.  
/______\  
\. . . . . . ./  
  
3.  
. . . . |. . .   
/___\/___\  
\. . . . . . . ./  
  
/___/\___\  
\. . . .|. . . ./  
  
  
"The first drawing is normal time travel, in just one direction. The second picture is of the   
second dimension of time, or traveling backwards and forwards in time. The last is what   
we are doing: traveling not only back and forth in time, but also between different time   
lines. Does that make sense?"  
  
"I think so..." Mars began. "But how is this going to help us find the princess?"  
  
"Yeah, and why do need the Dark Kingdom's help?" Jupiter piped up.  
  
"Well, according to my calculations, something went terribly wrong when Queen Serenity   
sent us into the twentieth century. Somehow, instead of sending the princess and prince   
with us, she sent them into an alternate reality - in other words, into another timeline   
where they do not belong. So in order for us to find her, we have to go into another   
dimension ourselves."  
  
"But how do we know which one she is in?"  
  
"Well, we don't. But I've programmed my computer to project the four most likely   
timelines for us to investigate. There is an 85% chance that she is in one of these   
timelines."  
  
"So really, we're just going on luck that she will be in one of these places?" Mars sighed.   
"Now tell me how we're going to get back."  
  
"That's the trick. We can't get back without the silver crystal. We're going to have to find   
either our princess or the princess of that time to send us back to our appropriate time   
line. I will give each of you something to help you locate this dimension when you return,   
as well as a locator which should tell you if our princess is in the timeline."  
  
"And since we don't have a crystal here, we need the Dark Kingdom to help us get there,   
right?" Venus sighed, finally understanding what they were about to do.  
  
"Right. Our powers combined aren't enough to send us, so we need an extra energy   
source that the Dark Kingdom can provide." Mercury hesitated, suddenly nervous.   
"Minna, we don't know what we're getting into here. These timelines are all damaged in   
some way, so they could be very volatile places. Be careful, and try not to stay in one   
place for too long." She gently placed her computer on the ground. "Artemis, I want   
you to keep my computer while I'm gone."  
  
"What for, Ami-chan?"  
  
"Just in case," was all that she would say. She handed each of the girls a crystal. "This   
should help you find the princess, if she is in your dimension. It will also lead you back   
here when you come back."  
  
The air was tense as they accepted their crystals. Something about the way Mercury   
was talking made them suspect that this mission was more dangerous than she was   
admitting. But surely their princess was worth risking their lives for.  
  
"Well!" Venus smiled. As leader, she felt very responsible for the morale of the group.   
"Let's go kick some Dark Kingdom butt!"  
  
Mercury finally smiled at that. "Right. Just remember not to do anything until I tell you   
to." She would never tell the others, but she was much less sure of herself than she   
appeared. As far as she could tell, nothing like this had ever been done before. There   
was no way to tell if they would actually make it all the way to the next timeline, or if they   
would be able to come back at all. What she wasn't even admitting to herself was that   
they might not make it back. That is why she decided to leave her computer. If one of   
them got stuck or... killed... all of the data would be safe here in this dimension.  
  
But they were warriors, and fear was not becoming to them. Mercury swallowed her   
doubts and followed the others to the arranged spot for the next attack. Of course it   
would work out. It had to.  
  
~~~  
  
Battles always unnerved Venus. As the leader of the senshi, she felt inexplicably   
responsible for all of the mistakes they made, and she couldn't stand the thought that   
they might lose.  
  
But if she were normally unnerved, today she was frightened. There was so much riding   
on this one little battle.  
  
Things were already tense, because all four of the generals had been invited to today's   
battle. It was a necessary event - they would have a better chance at gathering enough   
energy to make the jump successfully - but four Dark Kingdom generals together were   
very dangerous.  
  
Mercury had told them to power up and hold hands until she gave them the signal to   
release their energy. That was easier said than done. You see, power does not like to   
wait for an appropriate time. It wants to dominate, devour, engulf, empower. Something   
akin to pain was what they all felt as they drew power into their reserves.  
  
At first, the generals merely taunted them and sent little annoying blasts in their direction.   
But, annoying or not, they still hurt. However, the girls were prepared to endure pain for   
the mission.  
  
Eventually, though, they became tired of being merely annoying and decided to finish off   
the belligerent senshi for good. Annoying blasts became hot searing pain. But still,   
Mercury did not give the signal. But then, just as Jupiter was beginning to think that her   
back could take no more of this, each of the generals decided to simultaneously launch   
an attack. Mercury checked the readings on her visor, nodded her head, and screamed   
"NOW!" They each released their pent up energy in a big *whoosh* of power...  
  
And then everything was silent.  
  
~~~  
  
Bunny ^_^ 


	2. Into the Mist -- Chapter 1

The second chapter is here! Yeah! Please review, it would make me so happy. ^_~  
In any event, I hope you enjoy it.  
  
  
Tesseract  
rated: PG  
by: Star Bunny (bunny28@hehe.com)  
  
~~~  
Book 1: Into the Mist  
Chapter 1  
~~~  
  
The next thing Mercury knew, she was flying through space faster than she'd ever   
moved before. But something wasn't right; she felt someone else's energy moving   
beside her. She instinctively reached her hand up to activate her visor, but she soon   
realized that she was either moving too fast to do so, or her body was not fully... there.   
She wished she knew the technical term for what she was feeling, but she was in new,   
unfamiliar territory. From now on she would have to make it all up as she went.  
  
Then, with a sudden jerk -- which she assumed was the magic pulling her out of the void   
between the time lines -- she felt herself falling onto the ground. She shifted her body   
around to break the fall, and landed with a completely unladylike "thump". For a moment   
or two her vision blurred, and she closed her eyes and remained in that position until she   
felt better. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted with a most unwelcome sight.  
  
"Zoicite!" she cried, scrambling away from him as quickly as she could. After a moment   
of waiting for him to move, she realized that he must have somehow lost consciousness   
because of the trip. "Of course," she murmured. "Since his energy was used to   
transport me to this dimension, it must have also pulled him along. How stupid of me!   
We dragged all of the generals with us... I can't let him find the princess before I do!"   
Then, as if just remembering that she had it, she pulled out her still inert crystal.  
  
"I guess she's not here," she sighed. "Well, then I suppose I'd better start trying to find   
the princess of this time." She paused for a moment to regard the still unconscious   
Zoicite. He looked so pitiful. "I wonder if I should help him?" No one deserved to be   
stuck in a foreign timeline with no hope of escape. But then the memories started to   
resurface, and she remembered the monster that he was. With steely determination,   
she squared her shoulders and headed away from him.  
  
It was strange how things could look so different when in a new time. Theoretically, she   
was still in twentieth century Tokyo on the same street where they had fought the   
generals. But had she not known that, she would have not guessed it was so. The   
street was gone - in fact, all of downtown Tokyo seemed to have disappeared. She was   
in the middle of a meadow, and she could see far enough in the distance to notice that   
she was quite far from any sort of civilization. She considered powering down, but the   
thought of Zoicite lying on the ground behind her made her reject that option before it   
had begun to take residence.  
  
The first thing to do was to locate the nearest human residence. She quickly scanned   
the area and located what must have been a village about a mile southeast of her current   
location. With one last glance back to make sure that Zoicite was not following her, she   
set off to find the princess.  
  
~~~  
  
She had hardly walked a quarter mile when she was violently pulled from the meadow   
and into the surrounding woods. Her attacker quickly clamped a gloved hand over her   
mouth and shoved her into a tree. It was then that she finally recognized the face.  
  
"Rei?" Her squeak was muffled by the hand over her mouth, but she was sure that Mars   
would get the idea.  
  
"Ami, you idiot!" she hissed. "You know better than to come out of the woods!   
Someone might have seen you... you could have been taken!"   
  
At Mercury's blank stare, Rei rolled her eyes and looked rather annoyed.  
  
"And you transformed again. I don't know what's gotten in to you. You've always been   
the most conservative of us all. You're supposed to be the intelligent one. Now tell me,   
how am I supposed to look after you *and* Usagi? Don't tell me you're turning into her,   
now! Well? What do you have to say?" She slowly pulled her hand away from   
Mercury's mouth, as if expecting her to scream or maybe retaliate.  
  
"Rei-san," she began hesitantly, "I don't think I'm who you think I am."  
  
Rei peered into her eyes, her gaze harsh and unforgiving. After a tense moment she   
backed away from her, a slightly suspicious look on her face.  
  
"Follow me."  
  
~~~  
  
Jupiter rubbed her still sore bottom as she looked around the bustling street. It seemed   
just like the downtown Tokyo that she was used to. In fact, if it weren't for her aching   
rear and the absence of the other senshi, she would have thought that the plan had   
failed.  
  
A man walking by gave her a strange stare, and she suddenly realized what an odd sight   
she must be, sitting on the concrete in her sailor fuku and rubbing her bottom. She   
hastily stood up and looked around for an isolated place to detransform. She had   
almost made it into a nearby alley when a strange girl with a funny hairdo pulled her aside   
and began to talk to her.  
  
Unfortunately, the people of Tokyo in this timeline must have spoken a different   
language, because Jupiter couldn't understand a word she said.  
  
"Uh, you wouldn't speak Japanese, would you?" she asked the girl hesitantly. The girl's   
eyes narrowed, and she pulled out an almost exact replica of Jupiter's own   
communicator. 'I wonder where she got that?' she mused, when a sudden movement in   
the corner of her eye caught her attention.  
  
"Nephrite!" she cried, and ran out into the street to face him. She paused at the look on   
his face. He seemed just as lost and confused as she was! But the look was gone   
before she could think about it, and he sneered at her.  
  
"I don't know where everyone else has gone, but I've been looking forward to catching   
you alone for a long time."  
  
Jupiter, infinitely happy now that there was someone that she could understand and   
could at the same time destroy, crossed her hands in front of her in the classic Supreme   
Thunder pose. She could feel the lightning crackling above her as she gathered her   
energy. "Supreme Thunder!" she cried, aiming as close to Nephrite's head as possible.  
  
He dodged the blast, but only barely. Quicker than she expected, he returned the blast,   
and it soon turned into an all-out fight. They both blocked out the surroundings, focusing   
on nothing but each other. They jumped, flipped, punched, gathered and released   
energy. But it seemed that they were a perfect match. Nephrite's magical energy was   
much more precise and potent than Jupiter's, but she was quicker, stronger, and more   
coordinated.  
  
Then, without any warning, the entire area was covered in a fog so thick it had to be   
Mercury. Jupiter tried to find Nephrite through the mist, but it seemed that he had left.   
As the fog cleared, Jupiter was greeted with a very familiar face.  
  
"Sailor Jupiter!"  
  
~~~  
  
Venus landed in the middle of a battlefield. There was no other way of describing it.   
The once familiar streets of Tokyo were now a crumbled, smoky, dirty mess - and the   
smell was horrible! All of her instincts were telling her to run and find cover, but there   
wasn't a building or tree in sight. In fact, the entire city seemed to have been obliterated.  
  
She shivered as a cold wind blew past her, whipping up her skirt and lashing her long   
hair across her face. What caused this? Who was behind it all? And how was she ever   
going to find the princess in this mess?  
  
~~~  
  
Please review!  
  
Bunny ^_^ 


	3. Into the Mist -- Chapter 2

Welcome back, faithful readers! I hope you're enjoying this as much as I am... I'm really   
starting to get into the plot. ^_^ If things seem like they're progressing fairly slow right   
now, don't worry. 'Cause they're going to pick up *really* soon! I would appreciate it if   
you would leave me a review... I would like to know what you think about my story and my   
writing. Now... on with the show!  
  
Tesseract  
by: Star Bunny  
rated: PG  
  
~~~  
Book 1: Into the Mist  
Chapter 2  
~~~  
  
Venus had set out from the pile of rubble where she landed in hopes of finding   
someone. This place gave her the creeps - she felt like she were the only living person   
on the planet.  
  
A sudden noise from a pile of concrete made her turn around swiftly. Something -   
someone? - was trying to climb out of the mess. A white head of hair was all that Venus   
could see, but it was enough. She would have recognized him anywhere. It was   
Kunzite! She made her way over with the full intention of destroying him before he had   
the chance to defend himself when two figures shimmered into focus in front of her.  
  
"So you decided to return, Sailor Venus. Not had enough, have you?"  
  
Venus stared at them curiously. One of them she recognized as Sailor Mercury, but the   
other was quite unfamiliar to her. That she had very deep, beautiful eyes was the first   
thing that she noticed. But Venus caught an almost evil glint to them, and the sneer on   
her face could not be mistaken. She was dressed like a sailor senshi - her fuku was   
very similar to Mercury's, but the blues were softer and greener. Her aquamarine hair   
flowed elegantly down just past her shoulders.  
  
But what shocked Venus the most was the contempt she heard in Mercury's voice.   
Sweet, peaceful Mercury had sounded positively mean! A little hurt, Venus reminded   
herself that it wasn't her that she was mad at, but the Venus of this time. It wasn't a very   
comforting thought.  
  
"Mercury," she began.  
  
"We thought we made it very clear last time. Earth is no longer your concern. Now   
unless you'd rather die a very painful death, I suggest you run back to that little princess   
of yours."  
  
_The princess!_ Venus thought wildly. _They know where she is?_ Her attention   
was somewhat diverted by Kunzite, who had now emerged from the pile and looked   
about to power up. As much as she disliked this new Mercury and her friend, sacrificing   
them to Kunzite was not an option.  
  
"Fine. I'll go find the princess, and you can deal with Kunzite here."  
  
"Kunzite?" The other senshi seemed amused. "Your lover? Whatever is he doing   
back?" Mercury, too, appeared to find the situation humorous.  
  
"Neptune, how about you handle lover-boy over there and I'll take care of my 'esteemed'   
leader." That said, Mercury released a blast of energy at the unsuspecting Venus. She   
only just had time to dodge the attack, and as she wondered at what could possibly have   
come over the senshi to cause them to fight each other like this, one thought stuck out   
above them all.  
  
_She didn't call out her attack! I'm so going to die._  
  
~~~  
  
Flying through time was not Mars' idea of a good time. She was beginning to feel ill, but   
she figured that Mercury knew what she was doing when she sent them on this mission.   
She tried to focus her energy on something - anything - besides her reeling insides. It   
was then that she became aware of another presence, one what she knew very well and   
was not happy to discover.  
  
'Jadeite!' Mars almost panicked. What was he doing here? But Mars wasn't going to   
give him the opportunity to answer if she could help it. As soon as she felt her body   
begin to regain some sense of normalcy, she gathered her energy into what she hoped   
would be an effective Fire Soul.  
  
Mars landed on her feet, and she landed fighting. As soon as she touched down, she   
released the Fire Soul in the direction she had sensed Jadeite's energy and fell into a   
defensive crouch.  
  
Unfortunately, Jadeite must have sensed the attack coming, for he managed to hastily   
create a shield, which blocked the brunt of the attack. And so they stood across from   
each other, eyes locked and neither prepared to back down.  
  
~~~  
  
Rei led Mercury into the forest, turning around and hushing her every once in a while.   
After several minutes, they reached what appeared to be a cave set in the side of a   
slight hill. Mercury had to bend down to crawl through the entrance, but as soon as she   
was through she found that there was more than enough space to stand.  
  
"Power down, would you Mercury?" Rei sighed. "It's making me nervous."  
  
"I'd rather not, if you don't mind," she replied simply, folding her arms across her chest.   
Rei narrowed her eyes and was ready to snap back a reply when the door at the end of   
the cave opened and Minako walked into the room, an annoyed look on her face.  
  
"Honestly, Rei, can't you keep it down? Ami's trying to sleep!" Then she caught sight of   
Mercury and paled considerably. "You're asleep in there - you just told me to come out   
here and get Rei to shut up!"  
  
"Listen, Minako, I can explain," she said hastily. "But I think I - er, Ami - should hear this."  
  
"Ami," Minako called back into the room, her wide eyes trained on Mercury in a most   
unsettling fashion. "Can you come out here?"  
  
"Be right there!" came the reply in a voice so like Mercury's that she shivered and the   
hairs on her neck stood up. Apparently Rei had caught the similarity, too, for she   
gasped and suddenly looked ready to faint.  
  
After a few tense moments, the door creaked open again and a person who was so   
perfectly alike to Mercury walked into the room that had she not expected it, she would   
have done just as the other Ami had and screamed.  
  
~~~  
  
There was nothing easy about the conversation that followed. None of the other girls   
were prepared for a story so wild, so singular, as the tale Mercury had for them.  
  
"You... traveled through time lines?" Minako asked incredulously. "And what's this   
'tesseract' thing you keep talking about?"  
  
"You know," Mercury replied, a bit impatiently. "From 'A Wrinkle in Time'? By the   
English author? Mrs. Whatsit?"  
  
"Why would I be reading an English book? I'm Japanese."  
  
"Oh dear." Mercury nearly stamped her foot in frustration. How was she supposed to   
convince these girls to help her when she didn't even know how to speak with them?   
They were obviously not the same senshi she was used to dealing with. "You never   
read them while you were in England?" she asked in a last-ditch effort to relate them to   
the senshi she knew.  
  
"I've never been to England in this lifetime." Her heart sunk low in her body, but there   
had to be a way to convince them -- the princess was at stake!  
  
"Ami," she said, feeling a weird sort of quivering in her stomach as she spoke with her   
mirror image. "Surely you understand all of this! And I'm here to find my princess... you   
must know how important that is!"  
  
Ami peered closely into Mercury's eyes. "What you are saying is perfectly correct and   
plausible. And if you are telling the truth, then I will agree that finding your princess is of   
the utmost importance. But these are horrible times for all of us. With the Dark   
Kingdom in charge, there is little hope for any of us. I'm afraid we can do very little to   
help you."  
  
"The Dark Kingdom? You mean you lost to them?"  
  
Rei raised an eyebrow. "We lost to them hundreds of years ago in our last lifetime. The   
Dark Kingdom has ruled over the solar system for nearly a thousand years."  
  
"But that's impossible! Queen Serenity sealed Metallia and sent us all forward in time.   
What happened?!"  
  
"Maybe Queen Serenity defeated the Dark Kingdom in your time," Minako replied, her   
tone deadly serious, "but in our world - in our reality - the Dark Kingdom is a very real,   
very dangerous part of our everyday lives. All we can hope for now is to keep the   
princess safe until she is able to destroy Queen Beryl."  
  
"Then... you can do nothing to help me?"  
  
Rei and Ami would not meet her eyes. Minako simply shook her head, an almost   
regretful look passing swiftly over her features.  
  
~~~  
  
That's it for now, folks! Be sure to tune in next time, as Mercury attempts to tackle the   
Dark Kingdom single-handedly! Well, not really. But it will still be fun-filled and exciting,   
right? ^_~ Just a quick reminder to everyone to review... your comments make me a   
better writer!  
  
Bunny ^_^  
(bunny28@hehe.com) 


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